Medical procedures involving the delivery or removal of fluids from the body often utilize a catheter system for fluid transport. The catheter system may include a flexible tube or catheter that operatively enters the body, and an externally located fluid reservoir. One example of a removal catheter system is a urinary catheter for use with patients that may have difficulty urinating.
Other catheter systems are capable of delivering a fluid, e.g., a therapeutic agent, to the body. For example, the use of intracerebroventricular or parenchymal catheters is known for infusing therapeutic agents to a specific location within the brain to treat a variety of disorders. In an illustrative example, an incision is made in a patient's scalp to expose the skull through which a burr hole may then be formed. The catheter may then be inserted through the burr hole and anchored in place. To avoid unintended injury to the brain, surgeons typically use stereotactic apparatus/procedures to position brain instruments such as catheters and electrical leads. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,159 to Gouda illustrates an exemplary stereotactic instrument used to position an electrode.
To secure the catheter relative to the burr hole, burr hole anchor devices, including devices similar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,813 to Ray and U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,277 to Baudino et al., may be used.
The portion of the catheter extending beyond the skull may be tunneled beneath the skin (e.g., to connect to an implanted reservoir or pump) or, alternatively, routed outside the body where it may connect, typically via a longer secondary tube, to an external source containing the therapeutic agent.
While completely implanted systems may be beneficial for the long term treatment of certain chronic ailments, external routing may be preferable for shorter term therapies (e.g., those lasting a few days or less). Such short term implantations may be beneficial for a variety of treatments including, for example, acute gene therapy (e.g., for the treatment of Parkinson's disease) and chemotherapy.
While current external routing configurations are satisfactory for their intended purpose, external catheter systems may present issues not necessarily present with internal systems. For example, the externalized components may benefit from various attachment and strain relief techniques to minimize movement of the implanted catheter that might result from exposure to inadvertent, external forces. Moreover, in the event of a catheter break, the externalized catheter system may require component replacement and/or additional sterilization procedures in order to reduce the risk of contamination. While such attachment techniques and sterilization procedures are effective, it may be beneficial if the need for such additional measures could be reduced or eliminated.